According to a survey from Polish recruitment firm Work Service, a workforce shortage has led to businesses increasingly hiring Ukrainian workers, particularly for blue-collar, low paying jobs.

The survey shows that 35% of employers are facing problems finding appropriate staff. Meanwhile, about one million Ukrainian citizens are estimated to be employed in Poland and 38% of businesses have said they would consider hiring a Ukrainian. The high demand for Ukrainian workers is connected with the large scale migration of Polish people to other EU countries.

President of Work Service Maciej Witucki believes that these trends will continue to increase and suggests that Poland should develop a long-term immigration policy to counteract the workforce shortage.

As of now, Ukrainian workers can be employed on short-term basis only.

According to figures from Eurostat, Poland has a job vacancy rate of 0.8% and unemployment rate of 8.6%.